Academic Francis Fukuyama has accused Elon Musk of “going full MAGA” after the tech mogul shared a video of Tucker Carlson attacking the civil fraud case against Donald Trump.
In a post on X, Mr Musk appeared to express sympathies towards Mr Trump, who has been in court this week to defend against fraud allegations brought by the New York Attorney General’s office.
On the second day of Mr Trump’s proceedings, the Tesla CEO shared a video of conservative commentator Mr Carlson claiming the case against the former president is “designed explicitly to keep him out of the White House.”
“Worth listening. These are important issues,” Mr Musk said.
In the video, Mr Carlson claimed: “Liberals have decided that you should not be allowed to elect a president. That’s not democracy, it’s the opposite, it’s totalitarianism.”
The former Fox News host then showed a clip of Mr Trump in court with his attorneys. “This is not a legal proceeding,” Mr Carlson continued. “This is a grotesque parody of the system that our forefathers created.”
Mr Fukuyama, who authored The End of History, slammed Mr Musk for appearing to endorse Mr Carlson’s views about Trump.
“Musk going full MAGA,” he said.
Donald Trump is facing 37 counts— (AP)
Mr Fukuyama’s work argues that history should be viewed as an evolutionary process and the end of history means liberal democracy is the final form of government.
Mr Musk has previously been critical of Mr Trump. Last year, he said he would support Mr Trump’s arch-rival, Ron DeSantis, in 2024 if the Florida governor were to run for president.
“My preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist. I had hoped that would be the case for the Biden administration, but have been disappointed so far,” Mr Musk tweeted.
But in 2022, when Mr Musk bought Twitter, he received backlash after reinstating the former president’s account after it was banned from the platform for nearly two years for inciting violence in the wake of the 6 January insurrection.
“The people have spoken,” the Twitter boss wrote. “Trump will be reinstated.”
The billionaire added “Vox Populi, Vox Dei”, a Latin phrase meaning “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Mr Trump’s civil fraud trial began this week after a shock ruling by New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron which found him liable for fraud days earlier.
Judge Engoron ruled that Mr Trump, his adult sons, businesses and some of their executives “grossly and materially inflated” the value of the Trump Organization’s assets for more than a decade.
By deceiving banks, insurers and others by exaggerating the value of assets, the company was able to secure more favourable business deals and loans, the judge found.
Several claims in the suit are still expected to play out in the courtroom at the civil trial – in particular allegations of conspiracy, falsifying business records and insurance fraud.
The judge will also determine how much Mr Trump should pay out as a result.
Rachel Sharp contributed to this report
